TO THE FUTURE KING OR QUEEN

Standby for a slew of baby name suggestions, parenting tips, morning sickness remedies, and stories about what Diana would have thought: Will and Kate are having a baby.

The speculation about the future King or Queen of England came to an end last night with the revelation that Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, formerly Kate Middleton, was in hospital being treated for hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme form of morning sickness that can lead to severe dehydration.

The condition, which affects about 2 in 100 women, can include severe headaches, vomiting, nutrient deficiency, and low blood pressure, and can last for the first trimester of a pregnancy. It can also be an indication of multiple births.

The Duchess, married to Prince William for 18 months, was in King Edward VII hospital in London and is not yet at the 12 week mark in her pregnancy. According to St James’s Palace, the pregnancy is in its very early stages and no due date has been announced.

“Her Royal Highness is expected to say in hospital for several days and will require a period of rest thereafter.”

The baby will become the third in line to the British throne regardless of sex, as British monarchy laws are to be modernised, meaning that the oldest born girl child would be Queen, even if a son is born afterwards.

The new baby-to-be bumps Prince Harry down to fourth on the list after Prince Charles and Prince William.

Last seen in public on November 30 at her old school in Berkshire, St Andrews, the Duchess played hockey and looked well, though every recent public outing led to a flurry of speculation about a “baby bump,” particularly if she was photographed with her hand or hands anywhere near the vicinity of her incredibly flat stomach.

This, of course, meant that she was instinctively protecting her unborn child from dangers unknown.

Last week one Royal watcher even went so far to connect Kate’s new Farrah Fawcett-esque haircut WITH a possible pregnancy by saying her new fringe definitely meant she was hiding something.

At least everyone can stop talking about her new haircut now, because the bookies have started taking bets on babies names (Elizabeth is already the hot favorite, the name Diana is on the list too. But so is Rylan, but at 1000/1 odds. Go figure), the colour of the baby’s hair (odds on blonde) and a website, Morph Thing, has created images of what the baby might look like, which is really very creepy.

Prince William’s late mother, the beloved Princess Diana, became pregnant with her first child four months after marrying Prince Charles, and allegedly once complained: “the whole world is watching my stomach.”

Wendy Green

Hahah, got to love Twitter. if you use the hashtag #Unlikelyroyalbabynames Shaniqua” is the current people’s choice for name.
People reckon that “Peach”, “Chardonnay” and “Luke Skywalker” are unlikely though.
If it’s a girl,I’m going for Elizabeth and a boy, Albert.

Katie

Poor thing. I had hyperemesis gravidarum from the earliest days of both my pregnancies and it was not funny. I had to have injections for many weeks if not months – can’t exactly remember now – to control the interminable vomiting and retching that otherwise would have gone on all day. But with subsequent scares about birth defects, most of the available treatments such as Debendox were taken off the market shortly afterwards.

In the previous generation my aunt had a medically-recommended pregnancy termination of one of her pregnancies owing to severe hyperemesis – although she eventuallly managed to have three children.

sue Bell

Now we have to endure months of media hyperbole, who cares about another aristocrat parasite being born, I don’t.
Guess the magazines are wetting their knickers at the thought of all the magazines they will sell.

Rhoda

Congrats to them both. Hope Kate won’t have to suffer too many months but I suspect she will going by my own experience of it.

I had it for all 3 pregnacies and so did my daughter. I recovered by the end of the fifth month after the quickening but daughter suffered right through. It’s a dreadful thing to have. I can remember walking up and down the supermarket aisles once trying to find something I could stomach. Was living on dry toast and water – lost a lot of weight. I should have been in hospital too I guess but was out in the bush and had no idea it wasn’t normal morning sickness. Those days you just got on with it. Somehow survived. My daughter just stayed in bed with a bucket beside her the whole time. Her MIL and I took turns looking after the household, month about.

I can always remember the comment she made half way through her first pregnancy. “Looks like this one is going to be an only child!” And she was dead serious even though she lined up twice more. You’ve gotta laugh.

Benison O'Reilly

ro.watson

Onya Catherine. Sounds like something more than a bad hangover~poor previously common Catherine. As for indication of twins possibility with severe morning sickness~ would it mean the first one out alive gets to do the royal job eventually? I wonder what happens if first born kid is born to the royals who is “not quite right in the head”. Just asking….. Meanwhile~ I love the long stretches of time the Royals put in to what they do~which I mostly see news of in a waiting room at the local fish and chip shop, or my dentist or doctor’s surgery. Good luck to them.

ro.watson

Anxiety can be so self-defeating~ I am so glad there are so many people happy to assuage our little and big anxieties about the future. Meanwhile, I would like to stick up for Catherine and William about their own naming choice(s) for their offspring…

ro.watson

ro.watson

Yip~ I drove from Deptford to Marble Arch in the early 80’s in my Morris Traveller to visit a friend. On the way home, I saw, in the wee small hours, a note pinned on Buckingham Palace gates, near Buckingham Palace roundabout~ an official notice about how “mother and child were doing well”. Anyway,all the best for you and yours this time around,Ro.